Truth Will Out
by PorcelainHeart12
Summary: An emotional one-shot based on the 2000 series. Skeletor attempts to deal with Evil-Lyn's betrayal after finding out that she tried to raise Hordak. Meanwhile, the witch faces up to some truths about her life/situation. SkeletorxEvil-Lyn.


_Hope you enjoy this one-shot. The bit at the end where Lyn is honest with Skeletor is based off a little bit from the film 'Love Actually' (it's mostly just dialogue I've adapted a teeny bit)._

_This story is based off the 2000 MYP Series of He-Man, but I've included some elements from the 2008 'Classics' toyline- namely things from Evil-Lyn's bio, such as her being married to Skelly and having a son._

_For those who aren't familiar with it, the first line of Lyn's bio from the 2008 Classics line is this: _

'_Cast aside by her secret husband after his transformation, Evil-Lyn sent their infant son into the future… …and blah blah blah'_

_Anyway, I know the portrayal of Lyn is quite emotional here, but that's how I usually write her. Let me know what you think. (Also, I included the spell about Skeletor's neck growing back because I don't like that he has no neck in MYP)- P.H x_

* * *

Evil-Lyn opened her deep, purple eyes and blinked at the harsh, electric light that was hanging overhead. Thanks to Tri-Klops, most of the rooms in Snake Mountain had electric lights now. She groaned as she surveyed the four red, rocky walls around her.

The witch was lying on a narrow 'cot', and slowly regaining consciousness. She was being held in a small cell in Snake Mountain's dungeon. She had been here for three hours, ever since Skeletor had knocked her out with a blast of luminous eldritch magic from his Havoc Staff. He was (rightly) furious with her. He had found out that she had attempted to betray him- and not even for the first time- but for the second time.

He knew she had attempted to betray him to King Hiss. Why, he'd almost put her in the Pool of Shadows because of it, but he'd soon forgiven her. He'd been angry, but even so, he'd allowed the beautiful Evil-Lyn back into his fold, and back into his bed. He had made her promise to never betray him again, and she had agreed.

But she had broken her promise.

No sooner had she re-established her place in Skeletor's forces than she was teaming up with Count Marzo to unleash Hordak from his prison. It had been an acquaintance that had ended disastrously- specifically, it had ended with Marzo slapping her round the face-a memory that still made her burn with abject humiliation. The men of Snake Mountain would've loved to have seen it- the Doomseeker hadn't managed to capture that bit though.

Yes, a Doomseeker. It was ironic, but for all her years of insulting Tri-Klops and declaring his inventions to be 'failures', it was one of his inventions that had caused her downfall.

Even though she'd been 'forgiven' for her Snake Men debacle, Skeletor still didn't trust her, and he'd ordered Tri-Klops to 'keep an eye' on her. Unbeknownst to her, the tech had had his Doomseekers follow her everywhere. She should've guessed as much. It was a rogue Doomseeker that had captured her alliance with Count Marzo, and her failed attempts to raise Hordak, and then returned itself to the 'noble' Tri-Klops (who'd immediately shopped her to Skeletor for her disloyalty).

She had been summoned to the throne room at once, not knowing what to expect. As soon as she'd entered the room, she'd felt the familiar vines of Skeletor's magic wrap round her, holding her in place. She'd struggled, but to no avail. She and all of her comrades had then been forced to watch the footage that Skeletor and Tri-Klops had already seen- footage of her betraying her Lord.

As they watched the image of her talking to Marzo about how she would make 'even Skeletor' cower before her, Evil-Lyn racked her brain to try and 'talk her way out of this'. She knew she was in trouble- big trouble. Skeletor sat there on his throne, silent- his hood obscuring his face completely. She had begun to shudder.

Suddenly, the footage ended, and the room was filled with an eerie silence.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" Skeletor growled darkly. In spite of her inner resolve, Lyn's trembling grew worse. The footage was obviously real, and she had no choice but to cop to it.

"I'm sorry-" she began, trying to wildly formulate excuses.

All of a sudden, a bolt of magic from the Havoc Staff had been shot at her. She had been lifted off her feet, and knocked across the room and unconscious by it.

* * *

When she had awoken, she had found herself here, in this tiny cell. She was still dressed in her battle uniform, but her headdress and boots were missing. Her magic was gone too, leaving her powerless- that had undoubtedly been Skeletor's handy work- he knew many spells that could bind another's magic, rendering them defenceless.

The greatest insult of all was that he hadn't even bothered to have her chained up. He had simply left her on the cot in the cell. She was no threat without her magic, and the Overlord of Evil knew it. She was not a warrior as such, she was a witch. Her magical powers were strong, but without them, her body was somewhat weak and ineffectual. She had little muscle definition or fighting 'know how'.

She heard the door to the dungeons opening, and she sat up- one hand on her head. She knew Skeletor was coming for her- she recognised the sound of his footsteps. She had worked for him for almost twenty years- since she was a mere child of seventeen and he was Keldor- she certainly knew his confident, even gait by now. She knew so very much about him. For Skeletor was not just her 'Master', and he was not just her lover… …he was also her husband.

He was her husband… …although he rarely acted like it.

It had been a rather whirlwind affair. She'd been swept off her inexperienced, teenaged feet by the dashing, older Keldor. He seemed to know so much about life, and they had been married within months of her coming to Snake Mountain. Soon after that, she'd fallen pregnant with their son, but those ideals of happy families were never meant to be. Keldor had been transformed into Skeletor- his sanity disappearing along with his face.

"We can fix this," she'd said at the time, because she hadn't known what else to say, and because she'd been eighteen years old and determined, and because she couldn't accept that she would have a failed marriage behind her before her nineteenth birthday.

She had tried to 'fix it' with a spell- always her default option. It had worked, in part- Skeletor's neck had grown back- but not as it should have been. It was horribly disfigured- scarred and melted blue skin. It had just reached the lines of his jaw, and he had stopped the spell, sensing that even if his face had grown back, it would've remained horribly melted and deformed. The physical exertion and pain of the spell had broken his sanity even more though. Evil-Lyn had had to take the baby and flee from Snake Mountain for several days after he'd nearly destroyed her in a fit of lunacy.

She had sent the baby to the future. She had wanted to follow, but the portal had only allowed the innocent child, and not her. She had no choice but to return to Snake Mountain empty-handed. She had managed to help Skeletor gain control of the madness and spirits that lurked inside his mind- she had managed to restore him to some semblance of sanity, but now she missed her baby and her magic and her freedom, and she wondered if she cost had perhaps been too great?

* * *

Skeletor's footsteps drew even closer to her little cell, and Lyn became afraid- perhaps she had gone too far this time? Perhaps he would destroy her?

She pulled a moth-eaten, grey, patched-up, old blanket from her cot and covered herself with it- as if it would somehow protect her from her husband's powerful magic. This was the only cell to even have a blanket. She did not know how it'd gotten here- such a thing was a luxury in Snake Mountain's dungeon. She wondered briefly if Skeletor had put her in 'the cell with the blanket' out of some minor attempt at concern for her well-being, or if it was merely chance that she'd ended up here. It was probably the latter.

"Hello _princess,_" came the sneering voice of Skeletor through the bars. He was deliberately trying to hurt her. He had not called her 'princess' since the days when he'd been Keldor- it had been a private joke between the two of them after they'd first married.

When they had first married, Keldor had reminded her that he was a prince (albeit an exiled one), so by their marriage, she was technically a princess. It had become a joke between the two of them in those early days- when she had acted spoilt or bratty or demanding or dramatic, he would refer to her as a 'princess', which she had pretended to hate but secretly enjoyed.

"There she goes again," Keldor would always smirk upon seeing her in a rage. "The Princess of Snake Mountain is having another temper tantrum."

They would always make up after that, but he had not called her this nickname since his 'transformation'. That's how she knew that Skeletor was mocking her, goading her.

Since his accident, everything had changed. Technically speaking, he was still her legal husband, but they sometimes felt more like strangers. They were more like master and servant, comrades, allies. They had their moments of course- Skeletor and Evil-Lyn- she wouldn't have stayed if they didn't. They laughed together often, they shared a powerful magical connection, they even made love sometimes- but it was not the same. There was a part of him that was separate from her now. She feared he might destroy her for her treachery, which was something she had never feared from him in his 'Keldor days'.

Skeletor opened the cell door then and wandered inside. Despite everything- her fear and rage and uncertainty- Evil-Lyn longed to be close to him.

Most likely, it was precisely _that_- her vulnerability- that was making her feel that she needed him. Right now, she felt powerless, cold, frightened and tired. She didn't want to fight with Skeletor anymore, or play these 'goading games'. She simply wanted him to pick her up and take her away from this cell and back to his room, where she could have a hot bath and lie on silken sheets and under warm blankets.

"Skeletor," she murmured desperately, reaching out to him.

"You seem almost pleased to see me, my dear," he mocked. He was enjoying this- he knew that she absolutely _hated_ being in the dungeons. He knew that she _hated_ being trapped in a tiny cell and deprived of her creature comforts.

That was the other problem with being together for so long- it meant that he knew all of her weaknesses. He'd made it his business to know. He knew that he only had to lock her in a cell for a few hours, and she would become so miserable that she'd quickly repent of her behaviour.

He went and sat on the cot beside her, allowing himself to run a hand through her short, silky white hair.

"Take me away from here," she pleaded, looking up at him from beneath her long, sooty lashes. If there was ever a time to swallow her pride, this was surely it. She could not defeat Skeletor physically, and she was too tired to be 'smart'- all she had was her womanly charms.

He signed and stroked her cheek with his large, blue hand. She leaned into his palm, closing her eyes.

"The trouble is… …you have been very bad, dear Evil-Lyn," he tutted in his usual menacing tones. "Betraying me to Hordak, less than two weeks after you promised to 'never betray me again'."

"I didn't mean to," she protested, but even to her own ears, her excuses sounded weak- laughable even. The sheer amount of effort and planning that she'd put into her attempt to raise Hordak showed that she obviously _had _meant to.

She sat up then and leaned against Skeletor, pressing her face into his muscular chest. He did not react- he merely seemed amused by her plight. She wondered if he really would destroy her this time.

"What shall I do with you, hmmm?" He pondered darkly, running his hands down her spine. "Shall I leave you to rot in this tiny, dingy cell for the rest of your miserable life?"

She shook her head against his chest, proffering her opinion, as though he were actually asking for it. He leaned down so his face was next to hers.

"Shall I torture you?" he whispered softly into her ear, sounding excited by the prospect. "I think that giving you a turn in the torture chamber would be most fitting. Don't you agree, dear Evil-Lyn?"

"No!" she exclaimed, looking at him with horrified, wide eyes.

Skeletor was definitely a brutal man- he was well-known for taking his rages out on his evil warriors, but he knew the limits of what they could take- which was how most of them were still alive.

Evil-Lyn got away with a lot more than the others, but even she'd been given a few touches from his Havoc staff over the years. With her though, it was always more of a warning than a punishment. He'd locked her in a cell once or twice too, when she really had pushed the envelope too far with her goading.

But he had never tortured her- ever. She was sure he was capable of it though, and she did not want to find out.

She feared torture above all other punishments- she had an absolute horror of it. One had to simply say the word, and an involuntary shiver ran down her spine. She hated the idea of the pain, but the worst part was, Skeletor _knew _it was a legitimate fear of hers. She had confessed it to him one night during his 'Keldor days'. He had hung onto the information all these years, planning to use that fear against her when he needed to most. Tonight was obviously the night.

"You might like it," he cackled meanly, still holding her firmly in his arms. "How do you know if you've never tried it?"

She knew that Skeletor could feel the shudders going down her spine, for he clutched her even tighter to him, as if he could somehow feed off her terror.

The reason she feared torture so much was due to her physical weakness. She was not particularly strong at the best of times- she was not a hardy, muscle-bound warrior like the men of Snake Mountain. Her small body was soft and yielding. Without her magic, she did not stand a chance against the pain and pressure that would be visited upon her.

"I'm sorry I betrayed you," she said softly, leaning in to kiss his scarred neck. He gave a low growl that she wasn't sure how to interpret, but he let her continue with her ministrations. This was all she could do- she had no chance of defeating him physically.

Perhaps, given time, she might have been able to formulate some plan to outsmart him- but it was risky- a long shot. Better to swallow her pride and beg his forgiveness- anything was preferable to the torture chamber- except perhaps, having Beastman as a cellmate.

"Why do you do it?" He growled in a low voice. Even Skeletor had times when his curiosity got the better of him. "You must realise you're eventually going to get caught, dear Evil-Lyn, and that you'll be punished when you do."

She sighed and broke away from his neck, looking down. The two of them were going round in circles, trapped in an endless cycle of revenge on one another.

This wasn't how her life was supposed to be. She was meant to have it made by now. She remembered her teenaged days at school- she had been popular, powerful and charming- one of those girls who was destined to 'go far'. She had been known as 'Evelyn the Beauty' to her peers, and when she'd risen effortlessly through Keldor's ranks, married young and had her son, it seemed everyone was right- she was going to lead a charmed life.

How did it end up like this? At thirty-six years old, Evil-Lyn was trapped in a tiny cell with her disfigured, estranged husband/boss threatening to torture her.

Perhaps it was time to be honest. She could not think of a valid lie, or an excuse for what she'd done. The only reason she had, the only one that would make any sense, was the truth. It was time to lay all her cards before Skeletor.

"I tried to raise Hordak because you tried to put me in the Pool of Shadows," she confessed. "I felt angry… …and humiliated over it. I wasn't thinking."

As she confessed the truth of the matter, she looked up at him coquettishly from beneath her long lashes, and pouted in that sulky, pretty way of hers.

"Ah, but I only tried to put you in the Pool of Shadows _because _you betrayed me in the first place- by raising those wretched Snake Men," he hissed back, still holding on to her.

"But I only betrayed you to the Snake Men because…" she trailed off then.

She did not want to confess this final truth- that she'd betrayed Skeletor in the first place because he'd left her to rot in the Eternian Dungeon. The shame and hurt of that memory- of discovering it had been him who was behind her capture- still burned within her. She didn't want him to know how much he could hurt her. How much he _had _hurt her.

"Because?" Skeletor pressed, raising her chin and forcing her to look at him. He kept one strong arm locked around her, so she could not wriggle away. She was not allowed secrets from him anymore, he'd decided. He was not going to let this go- he wanted to know what had been behind her initial betrayal.

She did not want to confess the truth, but she knew it was the only way. Skeletor would not put up with her continued attempts to backstab him if he thought she was only after power. If he knew feelings were involved though- that she was fuelled by rage and pain- he might be a little more understanding.

He would not be happy, but he would understand- for Skeletor was one of those men who believed that she (and all other women) were too easily controlled by their emotions. He'd made more allowances for her over the years than for any of his male warriors, because he often believed that she was being controlled by her 'feelings' and 'womanly ways' when she acted out.

She turned it round by asking him a question. "I know I betrayed you, and it was wrong, but what would you have done in my position, Skeletor?"

"And what position is that?" He asked mockingly, stroking her cheek.

She took a deep breath and went on, forcing herself to look him the eye- or at the very least- the place where eyes should've been. It was all going to come out now.

"Suppose when you were a teenager, you met a great leader- a person you admired very much. You left everything and joined this leader's forces, and fell in love with them. You married them, had a child with them, and you fought alongside them. Even when this leader suffered a terrible accident, which led to them distancing themselves from you and cost you your child, you still stood devotedly beside them. You gave them your life, even though everyone said you were a fool to do so and that you'd regret it."

Skeletor was silent, his face unchanged so that she could not read his expression. He was listening to her. Her voice was shaking now, but she went on.

"Say you served this leader for many years, and then one day, you were arrested by the Masters and locked in a dungeon. You waited for you leader to rescue you, but they never came… …no-one came for you. Eventually, Kobra Khan rescued you, but when you ran into your leader- you found that he'd already replaced you." Her voice rose on the last sentence.

"Evil-Lyn-" Skeletor began, but she cut him off, too far gone now.

"Later, Kobra Khan asks for a reward for helping you, but you refuse, you tell him you're still loyal to your leader. But Khan laughs at you, he tells you it was your leader who orchestrated your capture in the first place!"

"Lyn-" Skeletor was saying again, but the witch ploughed on. "You tell him you can't believe it, but then he shows you footage. Footage of your leader saying that your capture was a small price to pay for power, saying that you were a useless fool who could rot in the Eternian dungeon for all he cared. Imagine the humiliation... …the anger... …you would feel."

Tears were beginning to prick behind her eyes as the shame of those memories came flooding back.

"Then, Kobra Khan says that things would be different with King Hiss- that he always rewards those loyal to him. You're suddenly left with a stark choice- going back to a leader who betrayed you- even though you'll have to live with that knowledge, or running away and making a fresh start with the unknown King Hiss."

She looked at him then, her violet eyes beginning to fill with the tears she was struggling to hold back.

"What would you do?" She asked him again, her voice breaking as it filled the room. "Would you stay, knowing that life would always be a little bit worse? Or would you cut and run?"

"Oh, Lyn." He muttered shaking his head. He had not forgiven her, but he could at least understand now. She was not angry- she was sad. He had forgotten how delicate ladies could be- how deeply they felt things.

"I thought you were being foolish," she told him, as a tear ran down her cheek. "But then I thought- I've dedicated my whole life to serving you, so if you're a fool, what does that make me?"

Her shoulders were heaving now with the effort not to cry, not to break down- her words, when they came, sounded forced.

"That's the worst part- not even that you were being foolish- but that you made a fool out of me also. You made the little life that I lead...foolish too!"

With that she collapsed against him, finally allowing the tears to come. It was all out in the open now. He knew everything.

He held on to her- poor, dear Evil-Lyn. She had been little more than a child when she came to him, and in so many ways, she still was like one. Perhaps she simply could not cope. He tutted again and scooped her up, removing her from the cell.

In truth, Skeletor reflected as he carried her to his bedchamber, he still did not know what to do with her. He did not wish to destroy her, but he sensed that torture was not the answer either. He sighed wearily as he laid her on his bed with its silken sheets- how could one little woman cause so much trouble for him?

Skeletor pondered over whether he should keep her powerless, and as his lover, rather than as his minion. Yes, perhaps he should not return her magic to her… …ever. Perhaps he should just have her as his 'kept woman'. He chuckled inwardly at the thought of how much the proud witch would hate that. He decided that he would put that idea in the 'maybe' pile.

Evil-Lyn relaxed on the soft sheets as Skeletor began to gently nibble her neck. She locked her arms around him, enjoying their closeness. He had not given her magic back, she noticed, but at least she was free of that cell. Even if it had required a good deal more honesty than she liked to share, surely it was a good thing? She did not imagine that this was over between them- she was sure he would still find a way to pay her back for her treachery, but for now, she could enjoy this night and worry about tomorrow when it came. She was calm in his embrace.


End file.
